From 11,000 staff to just 84 - BHS relaunches as a website

BRITISH Home Stores is set to relaunch online on Thursday - a month after the last of its high street shops shut down - with 23 UK suppliers and 84 employees.

The business, a staple of British shopping, went into administration in April and the company was wound down when a buyer could not be found.

Now BHS International, formed by the Al Mana Group, is relaunching what it calls the “iconic brand”, allowing shoppers to make purchases on a website.

From Thursday morning, BHS.com will sell a range of lighting, bedroom and bathroom products.

The company said all launch suppliers were based in the UK, and 84 employees were based primarily in London.

It has also partnered with Ascenos, a British call centre firm with a team based in Glasgow.

Kitchen, dining and clothing ranges were set to go on sale next month.

BHS said the launch products made up around three-quarters of the most popular online items sold by the retailer before it went into administration.

BHS International managing director David Anderson said: “A huge amount of work has gone into rebuilding and launching BHS back into the UK as an online retailer.

“With a loyal British customer base of well over one million people and the fact that we have secured contracts with so many leading suppliers who are providing products that were among the most popular with our shoppers, we are in the best possible position for launch.”